Recipe FAQ's

How to make the perfect sauce

Recipe FAQ's

I make a lot of gravies and sauces
on this blog. But have you ever wondered how it’s done? Sure, I say to
put this, this and this together and magically there is a perfect sauce
or gravy, but what I do, I do by feel and sometimes I can’t express that
well when typed. So I decided to put together a “perfect sauce”
tutorial in photos to help illustrate how I make great gravies and cream
sauces.

To illustrate the techniques I use to get the best results, I made a
creamy cheese sauce for my homemade macaroni and cheese. I have no
formal training as a chef or cook, but this is what works for me. Also, I
don’t measure when it comes to a few recipes that I make. Pancakes, mac
and cheese and chili are a few recipes that are like this. I do these
things by feel so the measurements are not as accurate as one would
think.

METHOD

In a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat (between 3 and 5 depending on your stove) melt the butter.

Once the butter is melted, slowly add the flour a little at a time,
being sure to incorporate it completely each time you add more. You want
to have a buttery paste.

This process is the same for a gravy.
Instead of using butter you will use pan drippings (unless you have very
little to no pan drippings). Add the flour in the same way, until you
have a paste. Then add the water left over from cooking your vegetables
or broth if you drained the water, just like you would if making the
cream sauce. When doing gravy, you can bring to a complete simmer as you
have no milk that can be scorched. But remember to stir constantly.
Once thickened your gravy will be done and ready to serve.

I don’t know. I feel like I was still a bit vague, but sometimes
cooking is! Doing things by feel when you’re comfortable in a kitchen
and especially by the grill, that’s just how some of us roll. If you
still need some clarification, give me a shout. I would be happy to help
in any way I can. Email me at [email protected] if you need to chat.